Rust

Self-host or rent?

Facepunch's wiki documents what running a Rust server involves — installing and updating it, configuring it, and forwarding the ports people connect through. What it never does is say who should do that work. A Rust server is more hands-on than most, so the question is less about whether you can and more about whether you want to.

Which setup fits me?

Four questions, weighed by what each one actually decides rather than added up. This is our guidance, not a Facepunch recommendation, and there is no score behind it.

Do you already have a machine that meets the server requirements?

The published figures are on our Rust server requirements page.

Can that machine stay available whenever your players need the server?

Our question, not Facepunch's — the wiki sets no uptime requirement.

Are you comfortable setting up ports, firewall rules and server configuration?

The wiki documents this work. Whether you want to do it is up to you.

Do you want to handle server updates and plugin maintenance yourself?

Updating through SteamCMD is documented; plugins are outside the wiki.

Answer all four to see a result.

What the wiki documents

The facts underneath this decision, kept separate from our reading of them. Two published figures a machine would have to meet, the drive the wiki prefers, and the work involved either way.

Official figureMemory (RAM): 12 GB of free RAM
Official figureDisk space: 15 GB of free disk space
Official preference, no figure publishedType of drive: SSD or NVMe strongly preferred
Documented taskInstalling and updating the server: The wiki documents installing the server and applying updates to it through SteamCMD. Updating is a job that recurs, not a one-off.
Documented taskConfiguring the server: Server configuration is documented as part of creating one — the settings that decide how your server actually runs.
Documented taskPorts and port forwarding: The wiki covers the ports a server uses and forwarding them, which is what lets people outside your own network connect.

Source, last checked:

Facepunch Rust Wiki — Creating a server — 29 September 2026

Two things the wiki does not cover, so we treat them as ours: how available a server needs to be, which is a question about the people playing on it rather than a Rust requirement, and plugin upkeep, which sits outside the official pages entirely.

Worth reading either way

The server has to meet the same figures wherever it runs. We have not named any hosting companies or prices here, and will not until we have something useful to say about them.

Server requirements — the published figures, so you can check your own machine against them or know what to look for in a rented one.
Server Planner — map size, players, plugins and wipe schedule, and which of the official figures your answers bear on.

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